


Miraculous: Tales of Papillion and Peacock

by Plagg



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, and instead of akuma attacks they just fight normal people, it doesn't have a name yet so i did what i could, its literally the normal series but with adrien's parents, the original kwami thing is just the peacock one, yay!!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-05-28 07:02:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6319369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plagg/pseuds/Plagg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Paris wasn't always superhero-less before Ladybug and Chat Noir. Oh, no. They had the stunning Papillion and the beautiful Peacock. How were they different from Ladybug and Chat? How were they similar?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Papillion

**Author's Note:**

> I'm calling Mama Agreste Emily because I like that name and she just strikes me as an Emily idk why

She was the most beautiful girl Gabriel had ever seen.  Everywhere she went she radiated cheer and love.  Granted, she never would tell him her civilian name, all her knew to call her was Papillion.

Who would have thought a girl in a mask, which covered most of her face, could capture such beauty?  Her mask itself was silver, and shape like a butterfly, which covered her face almost entirely, save for her forehead and mouth.  Her dark purple boy suit hugged her body and arms tightly (kind of like how Gabriel wanted to) and silver leggings covered her thin legs.  She held a scepter, which always possessed a single pure white butterfly.

How could she make something that seemed so silly look so…perfect?  It was always the basis of Gabriel’s designs, but he couldn’t capture Papillion’s grace; it just never turned out right!  What was it about this girl that made her so beautiful?!

“Pea?” she called from where she sat beside the hero.  “Yoohoo, earth to Peacock!”  Papillion waved her hand in front of her front of her partner’s face to catch his attention.  Bless his heart, he could go from being one of the fiercest people ever to the spaciest. 

Gabriel blinked once, twice, thrice, a blush forming under his bright blue mask.

Papillion giggled, covering her mouth with a delicate hand.  “Silly bird, stay with me!”

“Sorry,” Gabriel apologized, “There’s just a lot on my mind right now…”

“Well, I hope one of those things is how we’re going to stop those bad guys!”  And with that, she had bound away and left Gabriel alone to collect his thoughts.

“Wait!” he shouted, flinging himself off a rooftop. 

He leapt after her, ready to fight whatever kind of bad guys Paris had to offer.

~~*~~

Emily crashed into her seat in the front row, a sigh escaping her lips.  Being Papillion was so _exhausting_ sometimes.  She twirled her brooch around, glad that the Miraculous changed to something more akin to a flower when she detransformed.  It would be kind of hard to explain why a big silver butterfly was fixed under her chin otherwise…

“Woah, look at Em being punctual for once!” Nathalie, Emily’s best friend, teased as she plopped down beside the blonde girl.

“Haha, very funny Nathalie,” Emily dropped her head on the desk.  “I’m so tired…”

“What do you have to be tired about?” Nathalie asked.  “It’s not like you work late hours at your parents’ restaurant!”

The bell rang, then, and in ran Gabriel Agreste, mumbling ‘sorrys’ all the way to his second row seat with his arms swinging stiffly by his sides.

“Mister Agreste, is there a reason you are late?” the teacher asked, a look of agitation already forming on her face. 

“No, Ma’am…” Gabriel grumbled.  _Other than the fact I was stopping a robbery_ and _saving a little kid…_   He wondered if Papillion was ever late to class just because she did something heroic.

“Don’t let it happen again, you’ve always been an excellent student.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Emily felt bad for him, knowing that his attendance was one of the most precious things to Gabriel.  She turned around on her seat and smiled up at him, “Oversleep, Brooch Buddy?”

“Something like that…”  Gabriel ducked his head into his sketchbook, and Emily let out a sigh.  He was always so shy and so reserved…how could she even be friends with him when the most he ever said was five words to her?  Emily watched for a moment as Gabriel began to draw, entranced by his fluid motions and strokes against the paper.

“Is that…a butterfly?” she asked, leaning over his table.

“Ah-ah, um!  Y-yeah…”  Gabriel said, nodding.  He leaned away slightly, willing himself not to breathe in her perfume.  It was times like this that Gabriel wished he was permanently Peacock; at least then he could talk to girls – or, rather, _anyone_ – and not mess up his words.  “Butterflies are so…pretty and graceful…kind of like you.”  His eyes widened and he slapped a hand over his mouth dramatically.

That took Emily aback.  She sat down with her mouth slightly open, gaping like a fish.  Had Gabriel just attempted to flirt?  _Gabriel Agreste_?

Then, in barged Lucas, Gabriel’s best friend, who was possibly the most brash and loud child in all of Collège Françoise Dupont.  And it didn’t help that he was a large kid.  “Sorry, sorry!” he shouted as he hopped up to his seat and plopped down clumsily beside Gabriel.

“Lucas!” the teacher fussed.  “This is your third tardy this week!  And it’s Wednesday!”

“Sorry, Ma’am!” he laughed, waving off the incident.  Then, he turned to his friends, who all looked at him as if he’d just interrupted something major.  “What?” he asked defensively.

Nathalie shot him a glare and hugged Emily’s arm, forcing the girl to turn around and face the board.

“What did I miss?!” Lucas whined.

“It was nothing; don’t worry about it…” Gabriel mumbled, again dropping his head to focus on his work.  Maybe he could actually focus on design and make something that fit with Papillion if Lucas would get away from his shoulder. 

Meanwhile, Emily was at a loss at what to think.  She always thought that sweet, cute, precious Gabriel didn’t have a flirty bone in his candy-cane clad body.  For some reason, the thought made her blush.  She snuck a look back at him, but he was too absorbed in whatever he was working on to even notice her gaze, but she waved nevertheless.

It didn’t go past Nathalie, however.  The girl smirked and glanced back as well.  Oh yes, Emily had a crush on Gabriel, and Nathalie was determined to make her see it.  No matter what she had to do.

~~*~~

It didn’t make sense to Emily.  Ever since Gabriel’s little _comment_ in class, she’d had a hard time focusing on anything else.  Now, here it was lunchtime, and she was still replaying the scene over and over in her mind.

“ _Ugh_ ,” she exclaimed, pushing away from her desk.  She twirled across the white carpeting in her room and flopped face-first onto her bed.  “Nooroo, what’s wrong with me?”

The little purple kwami giggled, emerging from his cocoon of discarded clothes kept in the corner of Emily’s room.  “Well, you are a teenage girl…”

“That’s not helping, and you know it,” she mumbled through her bedding.  Her head popped up and she glared at the butterfly kwami.  “I _meant_ why can’t I stop thinking about Gabriel?”

“Again, you’re a teenager…” Nooroo snickered.  “You probably have a crush on him!”

“What!” Emily popped up, knees pulled under herself.  “I do _not_ have a crush on Gabriel!”  she said insistently.  “He’s just a candy cane!  He barely talks to me a-and he’s just _weird_!”

It didn’t matter that she thought his practically-business-attire outfits were endearing, or that his use of bright colors was cute considering how reclusive and dark he was.  Yeah, he tugged his hair straight up when he was thinking, and let it flop over into his eyes, calling it a ‘floof’.  That was not that cute.  So what if he stuck his tongue out a little bit when he was focused?  That wasn’t cute!  Nope!

And just because Emily had recently started doing the same thing didn’t mean she was trying to mimic him.  Not at all.

“Oh, Nooroo!” she sighed dramatically, flopping down against her pillows.  “What am I going to do?”

“You could try talking to him?” Nooroo suggested, a little smirk on his lips.

Emily pointed back in his direction, “ _That_ is out of the question!”


	2. Peacock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A talk with Lucas leaves Gabriel embarrassed about Emily. Then, a late-night fight leaves him exhausted and slightly terrified of knives.

Lucas sat on Gabriel’s bed, watching his best friend flit around the room animatedly.  “Gabe,” he called.  “Seriously, you’re making me tired.  Sit down!”

Gabriel jumped down from his place atop his desk, admiring the new painting he’d just hung.  “What do you think?” he asked, turning to face Lucas.  The painting looked very much like it had been done by a three-year-old, and Lucas wasn’t sure that was intentional.  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Was this a test?  If so, Lucas was sure he was failing.  How could something that was just… _splatters_ be so appealing?  He was in no way an art guru, but he could tell when something looked awful.  “Where did you get that?” he asked instead of answering Gabriel’s question.

“I got it at a flea market!  The man was arthritic, and he paints to distract himself and give him something to do!  Just look at it, you can _see_ his cramps!” Gabriel admired the work again, a gentle sigh escaping his lips.

Now, this is why Lucas always _asked_ before saying something looked like crap.  If he’d said what was on his mind, he would have looked like a jerk.  “It’s great,” he ended up saying.  Then, he quickly changed the subject.  “So, what happened in class today?  What was going on between you and Emily before I got there?”

Gabriel huffed and shook his head, “Like I told you, it was nothing,” he said.  “She was just looking at one of my designs, and I told her butterflies were beautiful and graceful like her.  Because, y’know, girls are like that.”

_That_ sent Lucas off into a fit of laughter.  “Y-you told h-her THAT!” he said between gasps of air, clutching his side.  “That’s _great_!”

The actions made Gabriel blush, and he crossed his arms, stomping a foot.  “ _Hush_!” he fussed.  “So, I complemented her, what’s the big deal?”

“Ohmygod, he doesn’t even understand!” Lucas cackled, falling off the bed with a heavy thud.  He wiped at his eyes as he calmed down.  “Wh-what was the design, anyway?” he asked, figuring he should fully understand the situation.

Gabriel pulled out his sketchpad, flipping to the page and creasing the page down.  Lucas took the pad, and was barely able to hold in another fit.  On the page was a figure dressed head-to-toe in an evening gown.  The gown flared out at the feet, pooling on the imaginary ground.  On the back of the dress was a set of intricate butterfly wings, which reached above the figure’s head and down to its feet. 

“Gabe, you really need to control this Papillion obsession of yours, it’s getting out of hand.”

Gabriel huffed and turned away from his best friend.  “It’s not an _obsession_ , Lucas.  It’s love.”

“It’s a crush.” Lucas deadpanned.

“Like you’re one to talk…you’re always picking on Nathalie like that’ll get her to like you…”

Lucas grunted, standing up and heading toward the door.  “Just for that, you’re not getting a ride from me when I learn how to drive!”

~~*~~

There was a scream.  Piercing, shrill, loud enough to stir Gabriel from his slumber.  His head flung up off his pillow, and he turned to face the sleeping Kwami at his side.  “Paavo?” he called.  The blue kwami lifted its head and blinked at him.  “Should we go?”

“Your call,” the kwami said, yawning and shaking its tail out. 

“Alright,” Gabriel groaned as he got to his feet.  “Paavo, Transform Me!”

With that, blue energy fell over him and crossed over his body.  His blue suit fell over his pajamas and gloves covered his fingers.  The dreaded green cape hung from his neck, the peacock tail’s eyes bouncing at his ankles on the cape.  It was too late to even care about the crest that bounced off his mask, so Gabriel – or, rather, Peacock – flung himself out the window and took running toward the screaming.

Not too long after, Papillion fell to his side.  “Good evening, Pea!” she said with a laugh.

“Not sure you can call ‘evening’ anymore, Pap,” Peacock snickered.  They rounded the corner where a little girl was cornered, two big, burly men towering over her.

“Help me!  Papillion, Peacock!” the little girl cried, darting out from under the men’s knees.  She took off running and the men turned to see the two superteens.

“Looks like Spandex Twins here got in our way,” one growled. 

“Let’s teach ‘em a lesson!” the other shouted.  He flung himself toward Peacock, who jumped into the air and grabbed the back of his hoodie.  Peacock flung the man toward a dumpster, and turned to see his partner crouching to trip the other nasty man.

“C’mon, beautiful!” he snarled.  “Don’t be like that!” 

“ _Ugh_ , gross!” Papillion sneered.  She decided tripping him would be too simple, so she settled for a round-house kick.  “Pea, up!” she commanded.  Peacock nodded and jumped up after her, landing at her side.

“What’s your plan?” he asked, shuffling his feet around.

Papillion lifted up her specter with a grin, releasing the little butterfly kept inside.  It landed on her palm, and she covered it with her other hand, infusing it with a yellow magic.  “Go, little akuma!  Find that girl and give her strength!”

Within a matter of seconds, Papillion’s face fell with a lilac butterfly outline, and she begun to speak.  “Dear, it’s me, Papillion.  I’m granting you power beyond your imagination to right the wrong committed against you…do you accept?”  She grinned, and once again Peacock got to watch her make another deal. 

Another few seconds past, and in flew the girl with her coin purse dangling at her side.  She pulled out of it a set of daggers, which were flung all around the criminals.  “Um!” Peacock was about to jump down, but Papillion stopped him. 

“Let’s see where this goes…” she whispered, sitting down beside him.  Peacock kept an eye on the little girl, who fluttered around the criminals, flinging weapons at them.  She eventually picked up their bats they had been carrying, beat them against a brick building.  “Alright, I think they’ve had enough…” 

They jumped down, and Peacock reached for the akumatized girl’s shoulder.  She whipped around and grabbed his hand, twisting him around and clutching him under the chin.  Peacock gagged, watching in fear as a new knife was brought to his face.

“Nonono!” Papillion reached for the girl’s bag and twisted it until the butterfly fluttered out.  “In the scepter, gogogo!”

The girl turned back to normal, screeching when she saw how she was handling one of her favorite heroes.  “Sorry, sorry!” she wailed, backing away. 

“It’s alright, don’t worry, sweetie!” Papillion fluttered closer, crouching down to the child’s height.  “It was my fault; I should have controlled your powers more…”

Peacock smiled, then turned his attention toward the men cowering on the ground.  He waltzed closer and stooped down in front of them.  “Are you known?” he asked.  They shook their heads fervently.  The boy sighed, “Well, it’s all in the Beholder’s Eye, now.”  With that, his tail-like cape lifted and shone brightly.  As the light faded, the men were left clean-shaven and kinder-appearing.  “Looks like you got mercy…”

Peacock turned to his partner, who had picked up the little girl.  “C’mon, let’s take her home before our transformations give out.”  The boy nodded, and with that, they ran off with the little girl giving directions the whole way.  They arrived at her home, and Papillion set her to her feet.  “Go on, your family must be worried sick.”

She nodded and ran forward, shouting for her mother.  A woman opened the door and gasped, “Sabine!  Come, come!  Where have you been!”

“Sorry…” Sabine mumbled.

Her mother looked out to thank the heroes, but they were already gone.

~~*~~

Gabriel fell into his room as the transformation gave out.  He flopped onto his bed, groaning at the rising sun.  “Paavo, do you think mother and father would let me just _stay home_ today?”

“And what good would that do you?” the kwami asked.  “You need to learn!  Children are like sponges and need to soak up as much knowledge as possible!”

“I’m not a _child_ ,” Gabriel whined. 

“Sure you’re not, Peachick…”

“Why don’t you go eat some sweet bread or something…” Gabriel grumbled.  He wanted to get as much as sleep as he could before his alarm clock told him to get up.  Either that, or he was going to just lay there and think about Papillion for the next unknown amount of ti-

_BEEP, BEEP, BEEP_.

“Are you _kidding_ me?!” Gabriel whined.  This whole superhero thing was really annoying sometimes. 

“Another day, another chance to do your best!”

“ _Paavo_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided that the superhero-form of the pairing will be called PapPea until I'm am otherwise convinced to change it.


	3. Dress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel asks Emily to model for him! If only things could go right...

Emily fell through her bedroom door, twirling across the floor as she went.  Nooroo zipped out of her purse and watched in slight concern as his Chosen danced around.  “Emily?” the kwami called.

“Oh, Nooroo!” Emily exclaimed dramatically.  She held out the rose she been clutching tightly.  “I think Gabriel likes me!” she squealed.  “He left this on my desk and just _smiled_ when I asked about it!”  Granted, the smile wasn’t coupled with a blush, in fact it seemed more amused than lovely.  But, that fact didn’t matter.

“What happened to you ‘not having a crush’ on him?” Nooroo asked, a little giggle slipping out.

Emily pursed her lips, glaring at the kwami.  “I gave up on that,” she said, making the butterfly laugh.  It was then Emily spotted something on her desk.  She stepped past Nooroo and picked up…a bouquet?

It was a bouquet of roses and other sorts of flowers, some that Emily didn’t even know.  “Where did this come from?”  she asked aloud.  Nooroo dipped into the flowers and pulled out a note card.  Emily sat the bouquet down and flipped open the note, plopping into the rolling chair at her desk.  “Dear Emily, it may sound sudden and kind of weird, but would you want to model for me?  Call me with your answer!” On the note was also a number, so Emily dove for her phone and punched in the numbers.

“ _Hello_?” Gabriel’s voice came through.

“So, modeling?” Emily asked, skipping the formalities.  She twirled a piece of her hair, yanking the locks free from the side ponytail she’d had. 

“ _Yes!  I entered a contest but I seriously doubt they want a teenage boy posing in an evening gown._ ”

The thought made Emily laugh.  “I think I’d love to see that!” she said before letting a snort escape.

“Ha-ha,” Gabriel huffed.  Emily could practically hear him roll his eyes.  “So, do you want to do it or should I-“

“I’ll do it!” Emily said quickly.  “I mean, yeah, sure, it’s no big deal.”

“Great.  Then, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?  Sounds good!”

With that, Gabriel hung up.  Nooroo fluttered up to Emily’s face, babydoll eyes teasing the girl.  “I can’t believe I’m modeling for Gabriel!”  She froze: _oh no_ , “I’m modeling for _Gabriel_!”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Nooroo tried to reassure, though the laughter that escaped him destroyed his support. 

~~*~~

Gabriel and Emily arrived at the boy’s house after school.  At first glance, the building was incredibly old and overgrown.  The outside brick was covered in mud, and the simple plants along the walkway were covered by towering grass.

However, once they stepped inside, Emily was hit with a color assault.  The mud room was bright orange, the living room was lime green, and kitchen was a mustard yellow.  “Whoa…” she breathed out, glancing up at the tall ceilings. 

“Yeah, it’s kind of messy,” Gabriel said with a shrug.  “I didn’t tell my mom I was bringing someone home, so she didn’t spend the whole day cleaning.”

“What does your mom do?” Emily asked.  She knew his father was absent and that that was a sensitive subject, but she didn’t know much about his parents.  Can’t blame a girl for being curious.

“She’s a tailor, but I don’t know if she ever gets any of that done,” Gabriel explained disinterestedly. 

“What do you mean?”

Gabriel headed toward the curtains in the living room.  He yanked them back, and through the ceiling-high windows spread an impressive garden.  “She’s a bit of a gardener…” he said with an awkward laugh.

“Holy moly…” Emily breathed out.  The garden was full of flowers she’d never even heard of!  So colorful and vibrant, and with the sun shining down intensely, it looked magical. 

“There’s more in the green house.  A lot more.”

“Wow.”  She didn’t know what else to say.  What was the proper response to such a perfect garden?  “Are we doing the photoshoot out there?” she asked with hope in her voice.

“If you want,” Gabriel said with a smirk.  Emily knew it had to look funny how happy she was over simple flowers, but she didn’t care.  Instead, she slapped his face gently and told him not to be an annoying candy cane.  “Why don’t you get changed?” he said with a snicker, going to grab the dress.  It was pure white, save for the gold outline around all five layers.  The dress was a stark contrast to the colorful home.  “The bathroom’s over there,” Gabriel explained, pointing in the direction of the room. 

Emily nodded and hauled the heavy mess of fabric to the turquoise bathroom, shutting the door with her foot.  Once inside, Nooroo flew out of her purse. 

“That is one puffy dress,” the kwami commented.  Emily nodded, breathing out.  This should be fun.  She tugged off her jeans and t-shirt, then stepped into the dress.  When she pulled up the dress, however, it got stuck around her waist.

“Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh?”

She tugged on the bodice, jumping slightly to hopefully wiggle the dress up.  It wasn’t budging.  Oh _no._

“Do you need Gabriel?” Nooroo asked.

“No!” Emily yelped, blushing brightly.  “I just need a little wiggling!  Grab the zipper and help me pull!”  Together, the two yanked and wiggled the dress until it _finally_ lifted up.  “Zip it, zip it!” Emily fussed.  Nooroo pulled the zipper up quickly, but the strain on the dress had…an unwanted result.

“It ripped…” the kwami said quietly, backing away slowly.

Emily groaned and tossed her head back.  She reached for the door handle and tugged it open slowly.  “Candy Cane?”

~~*~~

As Emily headed off toward the bathroom, Paavo escaped Gabriel’s cream colored blazer.  “She’s such a pretty girl, why don’t you go for her?” the kwami asked, smirking as his Chosen’s face redded.

“You know I like Papillion,” Gabriel grumbled.  “Besides, Emily is kind of…frightening.”

“Frightening?” Paavo questioned.  He didn’t understand the fear; she was a 15-year-old girl?  What was the issue?  _Papillion_ was terrifying; they didn’t know much about her and she could change people into Champions.  “How is she frightening?”

“Well, she can be kind of loud, and clingy at the weirdest times, and she’s kind of intense.  Not to mention when she and Nathalie are together, evil happens.” Gabriel tried to defend himself.  He didn’t want to admit to the Master of Teasing that he was afraid of a girl a head-and-a-half shorter than him because she never took crap, she was harsh, and because she had once beat him up when he was 10.  His nose was still crooked from her punch.

“Ah, so you’re afraid of her because she’s the opposite of you…” Paavo snickered. 

“No!” Gabriel defended.  “She literally _filled_ our classroom with bouncy-balls last year on the last day of school!  There are…things…Emily has done that you would never think just by looking at her!”

“Whatever, she would still make a better girlfriend for you than Papillion…”

“Bite your tongue!”

“I don’t have one!”

Then, they heard the door to the bathroom open.  Paavo dove behind Gabriel, who turned to see the girl leaning out the door.  “Candy Cane?” she called.  “We…have a problem…”  Her face was flushed, and the way she shuffled around had Gabriel slightly concerned.

“What happened?” he asked.

“The dress um…it kind of ripped a bit…”

~~*~~

“Well, _that_ was about as embarrassing as it gets!” Emily complained when she got home, throwing her bag into her chair and flopping down on her bed. 

“It could have been worse!” Nooroo tried, flying out of the bag to sit on the girl’s knees.

“Oh, yeah?  How?” she asked, leaning against her headboard. 

“If we hadn’t been able to actually get the dress all the way on you, he would have to help with that!”  Boy, Nooroo did make some good points.

“I think I would have just _died_ right there if that had happened!” 

After she’d explained that the dress ripped when she zipped it, Gabriel had to do some resewing, adding in some fabric to loosen the dress some.  It was easy to see that he was having a hard time not laughing at the situation, since he was sure if he had, Emily would have punched him in the face.  Not that he was wrong.

They didn’t even get to take the photos; it was too late by the time Gabriel had fixed the issue.  So, she had to go back the next day.  Which meant she would have to wear that dress again and hope and pray that nothing bad happened again.

Of course, while she was mourning over the loss of her dignity, there was a scream for help.  Immediately dropping her own pity, Emily jumped to her feet and called out for her transformation, jumping out the window before it was finished.  She stumbled as she ran, but quickly regained her footing.

Papillion ran toward the screams until she found a man dressed as a clown – and a dirty horror movie one at that – terrorizing a teenage couple.  Her partner slid to her side, and they skipped the hellos in favor of a plan. 

“Hey, It!” Papillion called.  The clown spun around, a horrifying guffaw slipping past his cherry red lips.  Both superheroes cringed at his appearance, hearts pounding.

The clown leaned his head to the side, letting his tongue roll out.  “ _Welcome_ to the party!” he said with a cackle.

“OK, even I can’t find the beauty in this guy…” Peacock complained, practically gagging.  He ran around the side of a building while the clown was distracted so he could lead the couple away.

But, it seemed Papillion had a better idea.  She let out her freshly-cleansed butterfly and let it land in her palm.

“What’s the pretty girl doin’?” the clown asked in his awful ‘funny voice’.  He stepped forward as Papillion got to work, swinging a hand at her that she had to duck.  He kept pushing her back, chasing the girl in a circle as she worked.

Papillion cringed, quickly filling the butterfly with blue energy.  She cast it away, calling out, “Fly, my akuma, to the boy!”  Within seconds, she made the deal and The Ring Master ripped his arm away from Peacock’s grip. 

He tossed up a set of magic rings, which latched around the clown.  “What’s going on?!” the clown growled.  He squirmed and wiggled in the rings, but they didn’t budge.

“Get her out of here, Pea!” Papillion shouted to her partner.  He nodded and led the girl away to let his partner and her akuma finish off the villain.  “Now, let’s set this guy straight…”

The Ring Master pulled out a set of cards and cast them towards the villain, allowing them to cut him across the shoulders and face.  Papillion dashed over and let her akuma finish out his aggression before stepping in and twisting the butterfly out of his cap-turned-top-hat.  “Back in the scepter you go…” she cooed to the akuma. 

Peacock ran back to them, “OK, she’s by the bridge, I suggest you go get your girlfriend and go home.”  The boy nodded, holding his head as he ran off. 

“At least this guy was easy to capture,” Papillion said.  “He was too busy trying to be scary to actually put up a fight against an akuma.”

Peacock snickered and shook his head.  She got too much joy out of watching someone beat the crap out of a bad guy.  He stooped down in front of the clown, who shied away, shimming across the sidewalk.

“Pl-please, I promise I’ll stop!  Don’t turn me in!” the man pleaded. 

“Let’s see what the Beholder’s Eye says,” Peacock said.  His (very funny, very long) cape lifted and a bright light past over the clown, who was turned into a normal clown.  His make-up was redone and no longer cracked, his suit was clean and shining, and his long shoes were squeaky-clean.  The rings faded away, so Peacock got to his feet.  “Get out of here, go!”

The clown didn’t need to be told twice; he got up and took off running (to where, neither hero was sure).  “Well, I’m going home!” Papillion said with a sigh. 

“Leaving so soon?” Peacock said in a teasing tone.  “See you next criminal, Pap,” he said, taking her hand a pressing a kiss to the top of it.

Papillion quickly pulled her hand away from him, resting it on her hip instead.  “Same to you, my show bird!” she said, waving as she ran off, heart pounding.  That dumb bird would be the death of her.  She already had Gabriel; she didn’t need to worry about her partner liking her too!

That is, if Gabriel even thought of her like that…surely he did!  He had to!  Duh!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter so much.


	4. Discombobulated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathalie and 'half of Paris' seem to think that Papillion and Peacock are dating. This greatly amuses Gabriel and flusters Emily. However, when Emily tries to fix it, she might make it worse.

“Papi _llion_!” Peacock yelled, running after the girl.  She giggled madly and jumped over the gap between roofs, looking back as her partner tossed his cape back over his shoulder after she’d thrown it over his head. 

“Try to catch me, Pea!” she teased.  Papillion jumped down and headed for a park, Peacock not too far away.  She dashed for a tree and scaled the branches, staring down at the boy.  He seemed confused, glancing around as he tried to find her.

“This isn’t fair!  Your suit’s dark and it’s _nighttime_ , Pap!” Peacock whined, stomping a foot. 

The girl jumped down, landing right in front of him.  “You mean with all those eyes you still couldn’t see me?”  He rolled his eyes while the girl laughed.  “Sorry, Pea, but the cape’s too funny.  I have to pick on you; it’s basically required.”

He huffed, crossing his arms.  “You know you love me, cape and all.”

Instead of answering him, however, Papillion just smiled and took off running.  “You still haven’t caught me!” she shouted over her shoulder.  The boy cursed, then went after her as fast as his scrawny legs would allow.

~~*~~

Gabriel groaned as he plopped down on his seat that next morning.  The last thing he wanted to be doing was school, and it didn’t help that he’d spent over three hours chasing down Papillion, so he was sore from all the running and jumping.  That girl didn’t know how to slow down!

Now, he couldn’t even pull out his sketchpad because he was too tired to use that much energy. 

Nathalie came running in, dragging behind her Emily and Lucas.  She tossed the two into their seats and dropped her bag to dig around for something.  _Curse her energy_ …Gabriel thought to himself, feeling like she was sucking the little energy he did have right out of his body.

Emily turned to look at him, shooting an apologetic smile when she noticed how exhausted he looked.  Then, the girl turned back to her best friend and questioned her.  “What exactly are you looking for?” she asked.

“Here it is!” Nathalie exclaimed.  She held out the school newspaper proudly, practically beaming at it. 

“What’s so special about that thing?” Lucas asked uninterestedly.

Nathalie shot him a glare, then spread out the paper on the boys’ desk, flipping to one page and pointing at it.  “This is _my_ column, now, and guess what it’s all about!”

“Shoes?  Hair dye?” Lucas snickered at his own personal joke, though it did nothing but make Nathalie colder toward him.

“ _No_ ,” the girl seethed through gritted teeth.  Emily tugged her sleeve, which helped her to regain her composure.  “It’s all about Papillion and Peacock.”

That caught both Emily’s and Gabriel’s attentions.  The two teens got to their feet and looked at the article, which had a photo of the superheroes playing the night before.  The headline read ‘Paris’s Heroes in Love?’

“What’s this?” Gabriel asked.

Nathalie grinned and began to read: “Last night, our heroes Papillion and Peacock were found all around Paris in what seemed to be a big game of tag.  Was this an innocent game or something flirtier?”

Emily’s face lit up in a blush, “Why would that imply they were flirting?” she asked, snatching the paper from her best friend’s hands.

“ _Duh_ , they play games like that all the time!  It’s never serious, and they’re always chasing each other around!  Half of Paris thinks they’re a couple!” Nathalie said.

“And the other half?” Gabriel questioned, taking the paper from Emily’s hands.

Nathalie shrugged, “The other half thinks they have a shot with one of them.”

“Please, they are _not_ a couple!” Emily said with an awkward laugh and wave of her hand.  “Their relationship is obviously more like…like siblings!”  She couldn’t have her partner finding out about this; he’d never let it go!

“I don’t know,” Gabriel said, smiling fondly.  “Maybe they just secretly like each other, and don’t tell the other one?” 

Emily practically choked on air, “Why would they do that?” she asked, feeling slightly betrayed by her brooch buddy.  “How could _any_ of us know, anyway?  We’d have to know Papillion and Peacock personally, and last time I checked no one even knows who they are!”

Nathalie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah, we get it.  You don’t like it, blah, blah, blah.  All I’m saying is, if it isn’t real, PapPea might as well be!”

If Emily could have just fallen through the floor and never returned, she would have loved it.  Gabriel, on the other hand, was eating this up.  People actually thought he and Papillion were a couple!  Well, Peacock and Papillion…but still!

~~*~~

“Are you OK, Emily?” Nooroo asked as the two headed home after school that afternoon. 

Emily nodded and adjusted her bag on her shoulders, “I just – do Pea and I really act that much like a couple?”

Nooroo shrugged.  “I’ve never really understood human relationships.  As far as I can tell, you two just get along very well…”

“Right, well, apparently we flirt a lot…maybe I shoulder tone it down with the training games.”  The last thing she wanted was for Peacock to found out that ‘half of Paris’ thought they were a couple!  Maybe even worse than that, she didn’t want Gabriel to think that _she_ liked Peacock because of how much she fought against the idea.  That made her pause on the sidewalk, eyes wide.

“Emily?” Nooroo questioned, looking back at the girl.  “What’s the matter?”

“Gabriel probably thinks _I_ like Peacock!” she shouted.  “Oh no, oh nononono!”  Emily took off running, scooping up Nooroo as she went by.  She ran all the way home and into her room, dashing for her phone as she crashed into her desk chair.

“What are you doing?” Nooroo asked in concern.  His Chosen was acting kind of funny…

“Hi, Candy Ca – I mean Gabriel!” she greeted, already twisting a piece of her ponytail.  “So, I just wanted to you to know I wasn’t, like, discrediting Papillion and Peacock’s relationship earlier!  I mean, I don’t _like_ Peacock like _that_ or something!  Or Papillion!  I just don’t see their relationship going past siblings!”

“... _OK_?  _Are you alright, Emily?_ ” Gabriel asked from the other end of the line.

“I’m perfectly fine!  Just wanted you to know that!  Bye bye!”

And with that, she hung up and clutched at her heart.  Nooroo fluttered beside her head, his arms crossed.  “I think you made things worse.”

“I think you need to hush; I have homework to do.”

~~*~~

The line went dead on Gabriel’s end, and the boy stared at the phone in confusion.  Had Emily just called him to tell him she didn’t like Peacock?  What?

Paavo snickered, having figured out what her problem was.  Poor girl. 

“Emily, you are one strange girl…” Gabriel said with a laugh, dropping his head into his hands.

“On the bright side, half of Paris thinks you and Papillion are a couple!  What was it called, PapPea?”

That made Gabriel smile, and he nodded to his kwami.  He’d been thinking about it the whole day.  He wanted to ask Papillion about it, pick her brain about possibly being a _real_ couple.  That would require they reveal themselves, and he was fairly certain that was the main reason she had yet to allow it.  Why that girl was so adamant about remaining unknown, he’d never know. 

But, now he had something else to think about.  Why did Emily call _just_ to tell him she didn’t have a crush on Peacock?  Did that mean she actually does?  This is why he needed a sister!  Or a female friend!  Lucas would be no help; he’d just make the conversation about Nathalie somehow!  _Ugh_.

“Do you understand girls, Paavo?” he asked, turning to the kwami, who promptly started to laugh at him.

“It’s not difficult!” Paavo said, clutching his stomach.  “They’re no different from you boys!”

“Then what’s wrong with her?!” Gabriel asked. 

“Ask her yourself!” 

“Paavo!” He was going to kill a kwami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Emily. Why am I doing this to her? She has it bad enough in the future...


	5. Interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathalie holds an interview with our heroes, which has unexpected results. Then, Emily gets brave.

“Pea, watch out!” Papillion shouted as a burly man stood behind him, arms outstretched and crooked grin on his face.  Peacock turned around slowly, an awkward laugh slipping out.  He’d just roped up the guy’s partner, and was fairly certain the criminal wanted revenge. 

Before the boy could react, he was lifted up in the air with one hand.  His feet swung wildly and he gripped the man’s fingers as he tried to free himself.  “Lemme go!” he growled through gritted teeth. 

“Now, why would I do that kid-“

He couldn’t finish his sentence before Papillion kicked his feet out from under him, sending the man to the ground.  His grip on Peacock loosened, which let the boy roll away.  As he rolled, however, his cape came undone and fell from his neck.

“What?” his head popped up and he glanced around, seeing the cape sprawled out on the pavement.  “…You mean ALL THIS TIME I could have taken this thing off?!” he growled, picking it up.

Papillion finished roping up the criminals and collecting the…substances…they were creating.  “They’re all yours, Pea,” she said with a snicker, trying not to laugh too hard at her partner’s embarrassment. 

“This is so stupid…” he grumbled before stooping down to the men’s height.  “Let’s see what the Beholder’s Eye has for you…” he said, holding up the cape.  Bright light flashed and faded to reveal to clean shaven men in white coats, glasses, and slicked hair.  “Get out of here, go get a job, do something with yourselves…”

The men got up and ran off, leaving the two heroes alone.  Papillion couldn’t hold it back anymore, letting out a guffaw in delight.  “I can’t believe you could take it off!” she said through her laughter, gripping her stomach.

Peacock blushed, refastening the cape around his neck.  “Stupid capes…when’s the last time a cape has ever been good for a super hero?”  Papillion shook her head.  “Never!  Capes are the worst!”  He groaned and stomped off, ignoring Papillion as she said the cape worked for him.  “Capes _suck_!”

~~*~~

“Drug bust, Emily!” Nathalie explained excitedly as the best friends entered their classroom that next morning.  “Is there nothing these two can’t do?!”

Emily giggled and sat down, “I dunno, why don’t you ask them?”

Nathalie huffed and plopped down, “If I could get an interview, that would be the best thing ever!” She rested her head in her hand, “Too bad that’s, like, impossible…”

“What’s impossible?” Lucas asked as he and Gabriel came in.

“Getting an interview with Papillion and Peacock…” Nathalie explained dreamily.  She went silent, which made Emily laugh.

“Aaaaand, we’ve lost her.  Whoops.” The blonde said with a giggle. 

Gabriel snickered and shook his head, sliding into his seat.  “It probably wouldn’t be too hard to get an interview…just catch them on patrol one day.”  He shrugged and started to pull out his sketchpad, then nearly jumped ten feet in the air when Nathalie stood over him with a huge grin on her face.

“That’s PERFECT!” she yelled.  “Then I could ask them everything without time restrictions!  Oh that’s brilliant, Gabriel!”  Emily was almost sure the girl was going to start spinning around the classroom, she was so happy.  Then, her excitement stopped and her face dropped.  “Wait…I don’t know their patrol route…”

“They always meet in front of the Eiffel Tower at 7 o’clock on Thursdays,” Emily said easily.  Then she noticed six eyes on her.  “I’ve seen them go past the restaurant several times!” she said quickly, trying to recover.  A blush covered her face, “I-It’s always at the same time!”

Nathalie nodded slowly, which escalated to a full-on headbang.  “OK, OK!  I’ll go find them tonight!  Thanks, you guys!” she lunged for a hug from Emily, and even from Gabriel. 

Emily giggled and looked up at Gabriel, who just shook his head.  “Hey, your best friend isn’t much saner, Brooch Buddy!”

“At least he doesn’t squeal like a pig,” Gabriel countered, a smirk on his face.

~~*~~

Papillion arrived early at the Eiffel Tower, and, strangely, so did Peacock.  “Why did you get here so early, Pea?” the girl asked, pushing off from the frame of the tower.

“I could ask you the same thing, Pap,” he said, hands behind his back.  “You’re usually right on the dot, not early.”

Before they could question each other further, Nathalie popped up at their sides with a tape recorder in her hands.  “Hi!” she greeted loudly, making both superteens jumped.  “Could I get an interview?”

Papillion relaxed first and gave a nod.  “Sure!” she said, “Ask away!”

“OK, OK, so Papillion!  How do your Champions work, exactly?”

“Well, I can sense intense emotions, be they happiness, fear, sadness, or anger, and then I can turn that person into a Champion of what they need,” Papillion explained.

Nathalie nodded with a huge grin and turned to face Peacock, “And what about the Beholder’s Eye?  What’s that actually do?”

Peacock switched feet nervously, “Well, it basically gives bad guys a second chance.  It takes what’s ugly about them and makes it beautiful.  Like yesterday, it turned the drug dealers to scientists,” he explained.  “Sometimes the Beholder’s Eye has a bad sense of humor…”

After several more questions, Nathalie had just one more thing to ask the heroes.  “So, this is what all of Paris wants to know…are you two secretly dating?!”

Papillion’s face went red and her eyes wide as she stammered, “N-no!  What?  P-please, me and Peacock?  Yeah right, we-we’re just partners!  Yeah, just partners…”

Peacock turned to look at her, his face dropping.  “Pap-“

“I-I have to go!  Homework and other stuff and – bye!”

With that, the supergirl disappeared, leaving Peacock with Nathalie.  He turned to awkwardly face the girl, scratching the back of his head.  “What was that?” Nathalie deadpanned, clicking off her recorder.

“I have no clue…” Peacock said with a sigh.  “Guess we’re not patrolling tonight…”

~~*~~

At school that next morning, Emily acted weird.  Not her normal weird, Gabriel noted.  A weirder weird than that.  He decided not to think much about it, instead focusing on his newest design.  The one thing he couldn’t stop thinking, however, was how weird Papillion had been the night before. 

What did any of that even mean, anyway?  Why did Papillion react the way she did?  Did she really just not like him _that_ much?  Ouch.

He was so deep in thought that he didn’t even notice when Emily started talking to him.  “Gabriel!” she shouted, making the boy jump. 

“What, what?!”

“Gabriel, I’ve been talking to you for, like, five minutes…” she said sadly. 

The look on her face pulled at Gabriel’s heart.  He hated seeing the usually peppy, excited girl look so upset.  “What were you trying to say?” he asked, tapping her arm with his pencil.  He gave her a gentle smile to maybe make her feel better.

A slight blush formed on the girl’s face, so Gabriel tried to smile a bit bigger.  “W-well, Mellow Swing is going to be performing at my parent’s restaurant this weekend and I was wondering if you wanted to come see it…because if you do, then I can get a table saved for you before they’re all filled up!”

Wow.  Mellow Swing was one of the biggest stars in all of Paris!  How had her parents even gotten him to perform?  That didn’t matter!  What _did_ matter was that Emily was willing to save a seat for him!  Score!  “That’d be really cool…are you going to be there?” he asked, immediately kicking himself.

Emily giggled, seeming to calm down from her initial nervousness.  “Of course I’ll be there.  But, I don’t know how much of the concert I’ll actually get to see, since I have to work the whole event…”

Their teacher cleared her throat, which called for Emily to turn around.  She snuck another look back at Gabriel, who just smiled at her.  It seemed she was calmed down, and Emily returned to her normal weird for the rest of the day so long as no one mentioned Peacock…

Gabriel couldn’t figure out why Emily reacted the way she did when anyone mentioned Peacock, however.  She’d stammer and stutter and immediately change the subject, ducking her head into her work.  Did she have a crush on Peacock?

And, if so, how did Gabriel get that out of her?  Hmmm…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, it is time for Peacock/Emily interactions! Are you ready?


	6. Infatuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel makes an interesting discovery.

"Nooroo, I'm going to quit school," Emily groaned as soon as she entered her bedroom. She plopped down onto her bed and kicked off her flats, sighing against the sheets. Nooroo flew out of her bag and glared down at her, ready to reprimand the girl. She couldn't just _quit_ school! "I can't take it when people start talking about Papillion and Peacock like there's no possibility they're there! It's even worse that one of those people Nathalie!"

Nooroo crossed his arms, "This is just something you have to learn to deal with, Emily."

"I don't _want_ to deal with it!" Emily exclaimed. She grabbed a pillow and buried her face into it, letting out scream. "Everyone is _convinced_ that there's something going on between me and Pea! I can't just deal with it!"

Nooroo sighed and dropped down beside the girl, rubbing his head against her hand. "It'll be alright, Emily. You'll get better with your emotions, don't worry."

Then, there was a tap on the window. Emily jumped and turned to face the window, shooing Nooroo under her pillows and stuffed animals. Outside, perched on a tree branch, sat Paris' one and only Peacock. _WHAT?_

Emily ran to the window and tossed it, making the boy stumble. "Why are you here?!" she asked frantically, glancing around for anything wrong. Had he figured it out? How had he? There was no way, _no way_ , that Peacock could have guessed she was Papillion! …Right?

She was so busy with her internal thoughts and panic that Emily hadn't even noticed Peacock answer her. "…Emily?" he called, waving a hand in her face. The girl blinked and shook her head, apologizing. "Well, now that you're paying attention," he said with a smirk, "a couple of your friends said you needed a super-helper. Somebody feeling a little down?"

"Down?" Emily repeated, wrinkling her brow. So, he hadn't figured out her identity? Yes! She was still safe! "Um…well, I guess I have been feeling a little weird lately."

"Alright, wanna talk?" Peacock asked. "Or do I have to sit out here awkwardly with this stupid cape blowing around?"

That made Emily giggle, and she nodded and moved to the side so the superboy could get inside. "You can just sit in that chair," Emily said, pointing the rolling chair in front of her desk. She herself took a seat in the rocking chair covered in blankets that sat at the foot of her bed.

Peacock plopped down, "So, your…uh, friend, mentioned something about being really quiet lately. There a lot on your mind, Freckle Face?" There were so many things he wanted to ask, mostly starting with _do you have a crush on Peacock?_ but Gabriel knew he couldn't be so blunt. He didn't need to freak the girl out and give her trust issues toward Peacock.

Emily thought for a moment and shook her head, "I've been just fine," she said. "And it's Emily, not Freckle Face, Cocka-doodle-doo." She fiddled with her Miraculous, twisting brooch lightly in her nervousness.

Peacock held his hands up, "Fine, fine, _Emily_ it is!" He bit his lip when he looked up at the girl, not sure where to go from there. Oh, wait. _Get her on a tangent_. That always worked when getting secrets out of her when they were little! "So, Mellow Swing is coming this weekend, right?"

Emily's eyes lit up, and Gabriel knew he had her. "Yeah, he's gonna be performing at my parents' restaurant, actually! It's completely sold out, which is great for us, but it's really got my parents stressed out, y'know. At least I was able to save a seat for my crush!" That caught the boy's attention. "He didn't _seem_ super-duper excited, but I'm pretty sure that's just his face, I'm usually pretty good about guessing emotions and, like, he just _seemed_ happy that I invited him to come! And it was really cute, because he forgot that of course I'd be working that night and asked if I'd be there. Oh, it was cute, he's such a sweetie!"

Right around there, Emily realized just how much she'd dumped on the superboy. And how much he probably didn't care. Her face lit up brightly, worsening when Peacock started to grin. She shook her head furiously when he started to shift in his seat and lean toward her.

"Crush?" he asked the very stiff girl. Inside, Gabriel's heart was beating a million times a second; she hadn't asked _Peacock_ to come, so she wasn't head-over-heels for him like he'd thought. Who was this crush, then? "Freckle Face has a crush on someone? Is that what's made you act funny lately?"

"N-no!" Emily blurted. "Crush, what? Psh," she made a wave with her hand, "I don't _do_ that kind of thing! Please!"

Peacock felt his heart plummet. She didn't trust him enough, obviously. Why should she, anyway? They'd only officially met this way a few minutes before! Emily had no reason to trust him! "You can tell me who it is, you know. What am I gonna do, tell?"

"Like I said, no crush to tell about!"

He sighed and leaned his head back. Just because the crush wasn't on him didn't mean he didn't want to help. Gabriel considered Emily one of his best friends, and he wanted to help her as much as he possibly could. Maybe then she would go back to her normal ball-of-energy, silly self.

Emily watched him for a moment as she tried to fight the blush off her face. Peacock stared up at the ceiling and let out a groan, then he brought his hands up and rubbed his eyes. Why did he seem so exasperated? Why did he want to know who she liked so badly?

Sighing, Emily decided it wouldn't be detrimental to let her partner know. After all, for all she knew he lived on the other side of Paris and would never even meet Gabriel! Just as she opened her mouth, he leaned forward and pointed to her, which clamped her mouth shut.

"You don't have to tell me, but I still wanna help you with him," Peacock said. He scooted the chair closer, careful to not roll over his cape.

"How are you gonna help?" Emily asked.

"What kind of things does this guy like?"

"Um?" Emily furrowed her brow, not sure where Pea was going with this question. "He likes fashion. He's always saying how he's going to be a designer one day…"

Peacock nodded. He could relate. "Maybe you could make him something?"

Emily shook her head, letting out a fake laugh. "Like that would go well! I need my fingers, thank you very much!"

Peacock snickered, "There's more to fashion design than just sewing clothes, Emily. Is there anything you can think of that would represent him _and_ you?"

"…YES!" Emily shouted, making the superboy jump. "Sorry, sorry! But I know what I can do!"

"Great, care to share?" Peacock snickered, watching as the girl started scrambling around her room. She dug around in a shelf basket, pulling out air-dry clay and paint. She shook her head and dumped the supplies she needed on her desk.

"I've got work to do, out of my room, Pea!" she shouted. Peacock made to protest, but Emily beat him to talking. "Don't make me get a broom, out, Bird Boy!" With that, he was gone. No way was he getting swatted at!

~~*~~

Gabriel couldn't help but wonder who this crush of Emily's was. He couldn't think of anyone who was in to fashion or that she would have invited to the concert. Who could this mystery guy _be_? It couldn't be anyone in their school, maybe it was one of the waiters? No, they would already be at the restaurant, no need to invite them…

He continued to try thinking of someone as he entered his classroom that morning. Gabriel plopped down in his seat and pulled out his sketchbook, fully intending on doing some doodles before class. That idea was shot down when a little purple box caught his eye.

Gabriel picked up the box, glancing around for anyone responsible. The note on the top simply said 'Brooch Buddy' and had a little drawing of the circle Miraculous around Gabriel's neck, including its tail feathers that laid mostly down. Added to it was Emily's brooch, which was flower-shaped and the same color gray as Gabriel's Miraculous.

Curious, he popped off the lid to the gift obviously meant for him. Inside sat a rounded locket, colored in alternating red and white. Inside the locket was a note, which read ' _For a photo of someone you love?_ '

Gabriel looked up when he heard footsteps, only to see Nathalie taking her seat. "Nat, where's Emily?" he asked, pointing to the girl's seat.

Nathalie shrugged, "She said she forgot something at home. She'll be back by third period, though."

" _Third_?"

" 'Forgot something' means 'I don't want to do school' in Emily speak." Nathalie explained. "Why are you asking?"

Gabriel dismissed the question, glancing back down at his new locket. Why did she give this to him? It was supposed to go to her crush…

Who was into fashion design…

And that she'd invited to Mellow Swing's performance…

Oh. _Oh. OHHH_.

"Emily likes me..." Gabriel whispered.

"What did you say?" Nathalie asked, turning to face the boy.

"OH MY GOD!" With that, Gabriel grabbed his bag and gift and ran out of the class, pushing past Lucas as he ran. "EMILY!" he shouted as he ran. "PAAVO, TRANSFORM ME!" he yelled when no more people were in sight.

With the flash of blue, Peacock jumped out the door to the school and onto the roof. Time to pay a visit to her restaurant…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Next chapter should come out quicker, I hope!


	7. Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily and Gabriel reveal

Peacock landed on the deck of Emily’s family restaurant not five minutes after leaving school.  He entered the building as calmly as he could, but dropped the look when he spotted Emily’s mother.  “Madame, where’s Emily?!” he asked desperately, stopping her with a touch to her arm.

“Peacock?” the woman questioned, “Why do you need to see my daughter?”

“It’s just really, really important, I promise!”  Gabriel might’ve blown his top had he not been in public.  “I need to talk to her right now.”

“Well, she’s in her room lying down if it’s that important-“

Before she could say another word, the superboy was gone.  He ran up the stairs into the house portion of the building and quickly found his way up the stairs into Emily’s bedroom…

…Only to find she wasn’t there.

Peacock searched the whole room; under the bed, under the dresser, in the closet, but she was nowhere to be found.  “Oh, come on!” he whined before jumping out the window.  “Where could she have gone?!”

Gabriel detransformed in an alley not too far from the restaurant, releasing a very angry kwami.  Paavo glared at the boy, who just huffed and turned his head.  “What was your plan, genius?  Were you just gonna run in there and reveal your identity to a civilian?”

“I guess, yeah,” Gabriel mumbled.  He stood up straight and made his way out, motioning for Paavo to hide.  “Gotta get back to school, maybe she already headed back…” 

~~*~~

On the way back to school, Gabriel spotted Papillion dashing toward the Eiffel Tower.  He smirked and looked down to Paavo, who just sighed and shrugged. 

A trip to see partner might just help him clear his mind!

So, within seconds Peacock was beside Papillion on a random rooftop.  “What are you doing out in the middle of the day, Pap?” he asked as he sat down.

The girl looked up and smiled at him.  “I could ask you the same thing, you silly bird.”  Peacock watched her for a moment, taking note of how she twisted the hair of her ponytail.  “I’m such a coward…” she suddenly blurted, letting out a loud sigh.

Peacock furrowed his brow and slouched forward.  “How so?  You’re the bravest girl I know!”

She snorted and shook her head, knocking her heels against the building.  “Well, this brave girl just ran from school after leaving a gift on her crush’s desk…”  Papillion rested her head against Peacock’s shoulder.

The boy laid his own cheek against her hair.  “Well, I just ran all the way from my school to a restaurant trying to find the second prettiest girl in Paris…” he said, letting out a snicker.  “I think I scare her, but I know she likes me – well, civilian me.”

Papillion pulled her head away, eyebrow raised, “Why did you run after her?” she asked.

“Kind of similar to you…she left a gift on my desk: a handmade locket, but she ran home before I even put the pieces together…” Peacock explained.

Suddenly Papillion’s eyes widened, and she scrambled to her feet.  “I have to get back to school!” she shouted, jumping down.  “Seeya, Pea!”

Peacock looked over the edge of the building in confusion.  Why did she run away like that?  _She must’ve remembered something important_ …

~~*~~

“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap,” Emily shouted as she ran.  Her transformation released, which left the schoolgirl running as fast as her skinny legs would carry her.  “I’m so screwed, so, so, so, so, soooooo screwed!”

“Slow down, Emily!” Nooroo shouted, grabbing ahold of her ponytail and yanking it.  “You need to calm down!”

“So, so, so, so screwed!”

Eventually, her lungs demanded a break, and left Emily doubled over on the sidewalk.  She clutched her knees and dry-heaved, retching violently.  “P-Peacock…Peacock is…h-he’s!  Nooroo!”  The girl fell against a wall and slid down.

“Calm down, please,” Nooroo begged, fluttering around the girl.  “Just get it out, and everything will be OK…”

“Peacock is Gabriel!” she yelled, tears stinging her eyes.  “Peacock is Gabriel, and he knows I have a crush on him, and he freaking _helped me with it_ without knowing that it was _him_ and I’m going to pass out!”

The tears fell freely, and Emily buried her face in her knees.  The last thing she wanted to learn was that her partner was also her crush.  As she calmed herself down, Nooroo took a seat on her head.  But, not three seconds later, Emily’s head flew up and her eyes blew wide.  “He went after me!” she squealed, jumping to her feet.  “Does that…does that mean he likes me back?!”

Nooroo sighed, holding his head.  There was no calming her down, apparently. 

“Oh no, that _does_ mean he likes me back!”  She started to pace, holding her head as she thought aloud.  “But…but Peacock likes Papillion, right?  Does that mean he likes _both_ Papillion and me?  No, no, why would he?!”

“Don’t know, sit down and breathe.”

“And, excuse me, _second_ prettiest girl in Paris?!” Emily laughed.  “I guess that means that Papillion is the prettiest, right?  Of course it does; he loves her!”  Finally, Emily plopped back down and crossed her legs. 

“Are you OK now?” Nooroo asked.  “Can you get back to school, now?”

“School?” Emily snorted.  “I’ve gotta get back home!  We have to call Nathalie, get her to come over for lunch!”

“Of course we do…”

~~*~~

“Nooroo, I’m going to die.”

The butterfly rolled his eyes and sat down by his holder’s elbow.  “Why’s that, Emily?” he asked in feigned interest.  This whole situation was getting old.

“I have to tell him I’m Papillion, don’t I?” Emily asked through her crossed arms.

“You don’t have to,” Nooroo deadpanned.  “You could always just get me some food.”

Then, there was a tap on the window.  Emily looked up as Nooroo dashed to hide.  “Peacock?” she called, getting to her feet.  Emily tossed open the window and let the superboy inside.  “What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted to ask how your little plan went this morning, Freckle Face,” he said, a smile on his face.  “I bet the guy loved it, didn’t he?”

Emily smiled softly, “I wouldn’t know, why don’t you tell me yourself,” she said with a smirk that made Peacock’s face fall.  Her heart thudded against her chest, and she wished and prayed that she could take back what she said.  Why did she always blurt things out?

“Wh-what are you talking about?” he asked, leaning against the window.

Emily took a huge breath, knowing she had no choice, “I know you’re Gabriel, Pea…” she said, watching as her partner’s eyes went wide.  “I know because you told Papillion about trying to find me earlier…”

Now, Gabriel was extremely lost.  Emily knew Papillion?  How?  Did Nathalie know about this?  Is that why Papillion was early for patrol the day Nathalie wanted to do the interviews?  It explained a lot. 

“Nooroo, come on out,” Emily whispered, gesturing with her head.  Out flew a kwami. 

A butterfly kwami.

“Papillion?” Gabriel breathed out, letting his transformation go.  Emily smiled, waving slightly and twisting her hips.  “PAPILLION!”  And with that, Gabriel tackled the girl to the ground in a death-grip hug. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REJOICE!  
> Also, after this will be a bit of a time skip. Don't worry, it's all apart of the plan. There will be angst soon, so just prepare.


	8. Revel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papillion and Peacock are sent to collect the Bee Miraculous, and they get another surprise when coming home.

“Are you two going to tell us where we’re going?” Gabriel asked, bracing against Paavo’s grip.  Emily giggled by his side, nudging him gently.  “We were in the middle of painting!”

“Gabe, it’ll be alright, stop worrying!” Emily fussed.  “The baby’s room can wait!”

Nooroo looked back and smiled at his holder.  She and Gabriel were equally excited, but it seemed that Gabriel was more fixated on painting than what Master Fu had in store for them.  Eventually, the two kwamis pulled the pair inside a building where an old man sat on the floor.

“Ah, Papillion and Peacock, please sit…” the man said with a chuckle. 

Gabriel snatched Emily’s hand as the two sat, sitting quite close in nervousness.  “So…why are we here?” he asked the man, receiving a smack on the head from Paavo.

The man pulled out a large book and sat it in front of them both.  “This is the Miraculous Journal.  It contains information on all the Miraculouses ever made.”  He handed the book to Emily, who flipped through it.

“Ah, Papillion…” she whispered, pointing to the image excitedly.  Gabriel snickered and turned the page, easily finding the Peacock.  “Why are you showing us this?” Emily asked.

“Well, I’m the Guardian, which means I’m supposed to protect and distribute Miraculouses, and keep them out of danger,” Master Fu started, “However, I am 162 years old and not in good enough condition to take back Miraculouses that are being used for evil.”

Gabriel nodded, glancing back down at the book.  Was that something about ultimate power?  What were the Miraculouses, exactly?

“That’s where you two come in.  Wayzz!” Fu stood, and a turtle-like kwami flew out of its hiding place.

“I’ve picked up on the Bee Miraculous in Hong Kong,” Wayzz explained.  “We need you two to go collect it and return it to us…”

“W-wait a min-“ Gabriel was cut off by his wife.

“We’ll do it!” Emily jumped to her feet, clutching the book to her chest, a big grin on her face. 

“Wait!” Gabriel got up and took her hand, “Emily, you can’t!”

“And why not?” she seethed.  China needed help!  This _adorable_ old man needed them!  She had to help!

“Did you already forget about the baby?!” Gabriel shouted.  “What if something happens?  How are you going to fight?!  What if you get hurt?!”

Emily smirked, resting a hand on her husband’s shoulder.  “Champions, Gabriel.  I can make Champions.”

~~*~~

The plane ride was horrendous, Gabriel decided.  Not the actual flight itself, but the fact he kept watching his wife incredibly closely.  Halfway through the flight, she’d taken to playing drums with her growing belly, and Gabriel had to resist every urge to make her stop.  She didn’t need to hurt the baby or herself doing that!

Not to mention how expensive it was to call Nathalie back home.  She had been tasked with watching their home and making sure nothing was stolen or disturbed.

The only relief from his anxieties Gabriel had was looking at the Miraculous Journal.  Which he did, a lot.  Looking through the book, however, gave him quite a lot of inspiration.  “Freckle Face, hand me that notepad…” he mumbled, pointing the tablet beside his wife.  She passed the paper to him and Gabriel giddily began to sketch.  Before long he had several Miraculous-like accessories doodled, and the flight attendant was warning of their landing.

~~*~~

“Crybaby, I grant you the power to release your feelings in exchange for the Bee Miraculous.  Can you do that for me?” 

Peacock stood grinning beside his wife.  He always loved watching her make deals.  It was such an incredible change in character for her, seeing her act so calm and collected.  Especially when she’d just been vomiting her breakfast a few moments before.

Not too long after, the heroes saw a very angry child zip overhead and unleash beams of emotion onto unsuspecting citizens.  Queen Bee eventually emerged from her hiding place, determined to beat whatever was disturbing her peace.  The fight didn’t last very long, since the holder clearly didn’t know how to use the powers.  It was kind of pathetic to watch her be brought down by an emotional teenager with glitter in her hair.

The two superheroes ran down to where the beaten woman sat, and Peacock grabbed the Miraculous, sticking it in a black box.  Papillion twisted out her akuma and stuck it in the staff, a grin taking over her face.  “I told you it wouldn’t be too hard!  And the baby’s nowhere near ready!”

Peacock rolled his eyes, “Let’s get this to Fu first, then will see if we beat the baby…”

~~*~~

They didn’t beat the baby.  Oh, no.  He decided to make the plane ride home awful.  They were over Turkey when he came into the world. 

Whoops.

Once they finally got to a hospital, the couple decided it was time to come up with a name for their baby boy, now that they knew he was a boy.  “We should name him something cool and different…” Emily said mostly to herself, cradling the baby in her arms.  Gabriel hummed above her, rubbing his wife’s shoulder as she thought.  Suddenly, she gasped.  “Florence!” she shouted, turning to Gabriel with a huge grin on her face.  “Florence Agreste!”

“Um, I don’t think so…” Gabriel snickered.  He ran a finger over the baby’s cheek, cooing to him, “You don’t want to be called Florence, do you, baby?”

“Well then what do you suggest, smarty pants?” Emily huffed, switching sides the baby rested on so Gabriel had to stretch to reach him.

“How about…” Gabriel had to think.  He knew Emily wouldn’t go for something like Noah or Ethan, they were too common.  “Adrien?”  It was his grandfather’s name, and a very good name. 

Emily considered it, looking down at her child fondly.  “Adrien…I like it…”

Gabriel sighed in relief.  Something normal, good.  He wouldn’t be made fun of. 

“Adrien Esprit Agreste!” Emily squealed.  Gabriel groaned.  _Of course_ his middle name was something strange.  “I love it,” she giggled, pressing a kiss to Gabriel’s cheek.  “And I love you, Candy Cane.”

From her arms, Adrien began to squirm and whine, which attracted both of his parents’ attentions.  “Don’t cry, please don’t cry!” Gabriel insisted, running a hand over Adrien’s cheek.  “Happy baby, happy baby!”

Nooroo and Paavo flew to the child, instantly attracting his attention and calming his cries.  Adrien reached weakly for the kwamis, gripping as well as a 10-hour-old could at them.  “He’s so cute, Emily!” Nooroo cooed, which made the baby grin a gummy smile and gurgle happily.

“Just like his mother…” Gabriel said, making his wife smile at him.  They kissed, so the kwamis covered poor Adrien’s eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, that was a big time skip, but now we're getting to the good stuff!

**Author's Note:**

> The only proper response to seeing Gabriel having the peacock Miraculous is to make this, obviously.  
> haha why do I do this kind of stuff to myself?  
> Oh, and if you can guess who Lucas is supposed to (ironically) be, then I applaud you. If not, well you figure it out in the next chapter...


End file.
